10. “Amuse Bouche”- Action Bronson
This song was my introduction to Action Bronson and sounds like a Ghostface song from the nineties. Though this ended up being his strongest effort (in my opinion), I was a big fan of The Program EP as a whole and will continue to check out his shit. He’s white.
9. “Scottie Pippens”- Curren$y Featuring Freddie Gibbs
Spitta and Alchemist’s Covert Coup mixtape wasn’t amazing, but was a treat on 4/20. There were a few gems on it, but this one had to be my overall favorite. This Alc beat has a killer bass guitar and a buncha crazy noises that fits Curren$y like a glove. Still, my favorite part had to be Freddie Gibbs coming on rapping like ’97 Big Daddy Kane about a “turkey bacon sandwich”.
8. “I Miss You”- Jadakiss
Jada spits reminiscent hood raps over a flipped “This Can’t Be Life” sample. This is a beautiful two and a half minutes of hip-hop. If that description didn’t convince you of as much, don’t visit this site again.
7. “So Amazn’”- Kidz In the Hall
I think I’m the only person who still listens to Kidz In The Hall, though I’m not sure why. These hipster-y twenty-something’s can actually make great hip-hop music, yet they get the least buzz out of all of them. The way Double O chops this sample up is wild and Naledge spits a memorable verse in this another two and a half minute song. I highly recommend downloading the entire Semester Abroad Mixtape also.
6. “The Hood Gone Love It”- Jay Rock Featuring Kendrick Lamar
Jay Rock’s second single off of “Follow Me Home” that’s in the vein of “All My Life”, his other good song. This is my favorite J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League beat in forever and Jay Rock and Kendrick Lamar kinda kill it. I love the hook too, minus the part about watching someone “show his ass out in public”.
5. “Battle Cry”- Joell Ortiz
I like everything about this song. The Mohammed Ali intro, the beat that sounds like Just Blaze’s best work in years, and Joell’s on-fire rapping. This is just a great song. Produced by Audio Doctor by the way.
4. “Nasty”- Nas
I know I’m a stan, but this has to be the hottest Nas song since “Made You Look”. Nas kicks all sorts of crazy flows over Salaam Remi’s best beat since, well, “Made You Look”, that’s on some old school, Beastie Boys shit. Nas’ rapping is in top form, dropping one classic line after another in his hungriest, fastest delivery since forever. In particular, first few bars of the second verse, “Silent rage/pristine in my Venice shades/ I’m not in the winters of my life or the beginning stage/ I am the dragon/ Maserati/ Bumpin’ Biggie the great legend/Blastin’/I’m after the actress who played Faith Evans.” Holy shit. No one else raps like that.
3. “Anti Freeze”- Pac Div
I thought making the Nas song number one would have been a cop out on my part, so I’m giving credit to some new artists instead. I admittedly don’t know shit about Pac Div, other than accidentally streaming a song or two of theirs on Nah Right. That said, this shit is a banger and some of the verses are cool. Maybe times have dulled by tastes, but I’m beginning to embrace this ATL synth type of shit. I think we all should.
2. “Enemies”- Saigon
You know I had to show love to Saigon! No homo of course. Sai finally dropped that album I’ve been awaiting damn near since I started this blog, back before blogging was “in”. The album was solid and this was the standout to me. I really like this beat and Saigon rhymes about a fake friend that landed him in jail and made him kick a chick’s eye out, or something like that. But seriously, this is 2pac-esque.
1. "It Ain't Hard To Tell"- Elzhi
Speaking of a cop out, here’s a remake of an Illimatic song! I guess it’s unfair, rehashing one of the best songs evar, but Elzhi makes it his own in impressive fashion. From the opening lines, “Now let me start you from the genesis/ Far from where the finish is,” everything Elzhi spits is on point and on time. His rhyming on this may actually be the closest thing to the real ’94 Nas I’ve heard in a while. Go download the Elmatic Mixtape.
No comments:
Post a Comment